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Health at a Glance 2015

OECD Indicators

This new edition of Health at a Glance presents the most recent comparable data on the performance of health systems in OECD countries. Where possible, it also reports data for partner countries (Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russian Federation and South Africa). Compared with the previous edition, this new edition includes a new set of dashboards of health indicators to summarise in a clear and user-friendly way the relative strengths and weaknesses of OECD countries on different key indicators of health and health system performance, and also a special focus on the pharmaceutical sector. This edition also contains new indicators on health workforce migration and on the quality of health care.

Doctors by age, sex and category

Beyond the overall number of doctors, the age and gender composition of the medical workforce and the mix between different categories of doctors also have important implications on the supply of medical services. The ageing of doctors in OECD countries has, for many years, raised concerns that there may not be sufficient new recruits to replace them, although there is evidence that the retirement of doctors often only occurs gradually and that their retirement age is increasing (Pong, 2011). The rising share of female doctors may affect the overall supply of medical services, as women tend to work fewer hours than men, although it appears that working time preferences are becoming more similar among new generations of men and women doctors. The growing imbalance in favour of greater specialisation over general medicine raises concerns in many countries about access to primary care for all the population.